Manchester United scored twice in stoppage time to rescue a 4-4 draw against Aston Villa at Old Trafford, after Michael Carrick’s side had twice fallen two goals behind.
Aston Villa made a blistering start, with Alysson opening the scoring inside the first minute before Nicolas Jackson capitalised on a rebound to make it 2-0. Bruno Fernandes pulled one back from the penalty spot before Youri Tielemans equalised on the stroke of half-time.
John McGinn restored Villa’s advantage from another penalty three minutes after the restart, and Leon Goretzka extended the lead to 4-2 in the 53rd minute. But Joshua Zirkzee and Patrick Dorgu struck in the closing stages to earn United a remarkable point.
Carrick admitted the result was difficult to process, particularly given the chances his team had created.
“It's a tough one to digest in some ways because there are moments which end up being key moments. We're kind of beating ourselves a little bit in many ways, at the moment, which is disappointing and it's making things difficult,” he said.
> “But, at the same point, the rest of the game of football has been very good, for the most part. We didn't give them an awful lot. They didn't create an awful lot and I thought we created a lot, we had a lot of control.
“To end the game like we have, I'm just disappointed we haven't won, to be honest. We did more than enough to win the game today and I'm really disappointed that we haven't taken all three points.”
Carrick nevertheless praised the character shown by his players, particularly after falling two goals behind for a second time.
“I liked the character and the quality of football. We attacked the box well and had moments, we had chances. Coming from a place where you’re 2-0 down and not in a good place, the boys played well, it was just moments,” he said.
“To finish the game like that, we kept going, kept believing. That shows the boys’ character. There's some character in that dressing room. There's some character to dig deep. There's a lot of quality in there and, if we can tighten up on the moments, then we can win games, a lot of games.”
Unai Emery was left frustrated after Villa surrendered their two-goal advantage in stoppage time.
“It’s difficult to accept this result because we were winning 4-2 in extra-time and how we conceded two goals is really painful,” he said.
“There are very good things, but the last six minutes was really getting us upset, how we conceded those two goals. It's something we have to try to correct as quick as possible.”
Carrick also acknowledged Manchester United’s defensive problems, adding: “We’re giving ourselves too much to do in games. There’s been too many \[goals conceded\]. It’s pretty clear. We know that and we’ve got to put it right.”